Brick-and-Mortar, Digital Retailers Adjust Strategies in Wake of Coronavirus

A just-released report by market research firm Forrester and retail solution platform Narvar detailed high-level findings in the retail space, and focused on how brands are adjusting their strategies during the coronavirus pandemic. The main takeaway? Retailers are concerned that e-commerce will not make up for the huge drops in their in-store sales, according to the report. In its survey of 99 brands, 58 percent of retailers predict that shopping activity and behavior will return to normal in a relatively wide range of time: three months to one year. This realization “forced retailers to adjust their overall sales forecasts,” the report said, as more than 20 percent of retailers have already lowered sales forecasts by 25 percent. Meanwhile, department stores and luxury brands “are more discouraged,” with 50 percent of those segments lowering sales forecasts by 25 percent or more, all according to the report. Image from Forrester and Narvar’s COVID-19 Report.  Half of survey respondents were omnichannel retailers with brick-and-mortar stores that will likely be “impacted the most,” the report noted, adding that the challenge to regain revenue and “salvage” transactions without a physical presence is an enduring and difficult struggle. Tactics that work, though, include localized offerings, such as 5 percent of respondents

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